Falling for you
by shmulia
Summary: Snowball fights with the gaang can be pretty intense, especially when Zuko and Katara are involved.


There was nothing Katara loved more than snow days. A day off school where you did nothing but play in the snow? It was heaven.

As soon as the principal had sent the message that school was cancelled, Katara had been on her phone to send out a group message.

 **The Gaang**

 _Katara [08:45]: Hey guys! Hot chocolate and snowball fight at mine?_

 _Sokka [08:46]: Katara it's too early for texting. Shut up and go back to sleep_

 _Katara [08:46]: You aren't invited, Sokka. The rest of you, get here for 10, ok?_

 _Sokka [08:47]: IT'S MY HOUSE TOO_

 _Aang [08:50]: sounds like fun, Katara! And lol Sokka, guess you'll have to make other plans ;)_

 _Zuko [09:03]: why do you all hate sleep_

 _Zuko [09:04]: but sounds good_

 _Zuko [09:05]: do you need us to bring marshmallows or anything_

 _Aang [09:06]: I'LL BRING MY PENGUIN SLED_

 _Sokka [09:06]: aang no_

 _Aang [09:07]: shush Sokka you aren't invited :P_

 _Katara [09:07]: Bring whatever you want!_ _But extra clothes might be a good plan!_

 _Sokka [09:10]: I guess you could say we're..._

 _Sokka [09:10]: snowballing and chill_

 _Sokka [09:10]: B)_

 _Zuko [09:11]: ...i don't think that means what you think it means Sokka_

 _Aang [09:11]: Sokka wtf_

 _Katara [09:12]: Just to clarify: this isn't an orgy invite_

 _Sokka [09:12]: wait what_

 _Zuko [09:12] the hell did i wake up 2 jfc guys_

 _Katara [09:13]: See you weirdos at 10_

Katara tossed the phone onto her bed, hearing it vibrate as messages continued to come through.  
***

The battle lines had been carefully drawn. Teams had been selected on the basis of sibling rivalry and age: Sokka and Zuko on one side, Aang and Katara on the other. Toph was napping on the sofa inside, more interested in sleep than the cold weather, Appa and Momo curled around her.

The forts had been sculpted with varying degrees of success; Katara and Aang had made theirs reasonably successfully, whilst Sokka and Zuko had a large pile of snow which looked like it was going to collapse on them at any moment.

"Okay, ready?" Katara called from behind the cover of their wall of snow.

"Yeah, ready to _win!_ " Sokka replied. Katara and Aang rolled their eyes as they packed snow into their gloved hands, shaping the soft ice into balls. They looked at each other, nodded, and prepared to go above the parapet when they heard Sokka cry out from the other side.

"SNEAK ATTACK!"

Katara and Aang dived in opposite directions as snowballs flew over their fort, pelting into the ground where they'd sat seconds earlier. Aang turned to face the surprised Sokka, who was staring at the empty space in shock.

"Sokka, sneak attacks don't work if you yell it out loud," Aang stated, before taking aim and throwing his snowball straight at Sokka's face. It hit its mark, and all out war began between the two boys as Katara and Zuko watched from the side, eyebrows raised in matching expressions of concern and amusement.

Katara looked up from the snow flying between Sokka and Aang, surreptitiously rounding the compact snow in her hand. Her eyes flicked to Zuko, and their gazes locked. Katara smiled, the picture of innocence.

"Looks like it's me against you then, Zuko," she smiled. He nodded, and Katara noticed his hand moving behind his back.

"I guess so," he replied, eyes narrowing as he grinned at Katara's attempts at subtlety when making a snowball. She noticed his gaze fall on the snow in her hand, and Zuko barely had time to blink before his face was suddenly cold and wet. Brushing the snow off his cheeks with his free hand, Zuko let out a laugh.

"This means war, Katara!" He called as she ran behind Sokka's wall of snow to make another weapon. He ran after her, snowball poised to fly, when he was hit by multiple snowballs in rapid succession.

Zuko didn't stop moving, knocking into the snow and crushing it, causing the snow to land on Katara. He heard an "eep!" as the cold powder landed on her, and a snow-covered head popped up from the wreckage of Sokka's fort, glaring at Zuko.

"MY TOWER!" Sokka shrieked as Aang doubled over in laughter at the fate of the snow wall. The younger boy was too busy laughing to notice Sokka pile up as much snow as he could carry and run over to dump it over Aang's head.

Zuko snorted as Aang shook his head to get the snow off, before hearing a growl from behind him. He turned slowly, eyes widening in fear as a sodden Katara took aim. He didn't hesitate, and ran out of reach of the snowball's radius.

"Damn it Zuko, get _back here!"_ Katara called as the older boy sped off in the opposite direction. She gathered some snow, quickly packing it into a sphere, and chased after him, managing to avoid the torrent of snowballs flying between the battling Aang and Sokka, both of whom were screaming as they fought.

She was running, snowball poised to fly at the opportune moment. Katara was catching up, Zuko only centimetres from her _-_

She didn't notice the tree root jutting out from beneath the snow. Her foot caught on it, pushing her off the ground, and she shut her eyes as she waited for the chill of the snow to hit her; she didn't expect a warm, solid body to soften her fall.

Her hands shot out to protect her as she landed, and an "oof" escaped the person below her as they landed on the ground. Katara opened her eyes to see Zuko underneath her, blinking in confusion. His arms had raised instinctively to her waist as they fell, catching her as she crashed into him, propelled forward by her fall. He had turned when he heard her cry out, just in time for her to land on him.

And now she was just... straddling him. And staring. In the snow.

She'd never realised how attractive Zuko was before.

Blue eyes met amber as heat rose to both Zuko and Katara's faces, both very aware of the awkward position they were in, neither sure how to proceed. Katara felt the cold seep through her gloves where her hands pressed into the ground, and pushed herself up off of the boy below her.

"Oh my god! Are you okay?" she asked, offering Zuko a hand as she stood up, which he took with gratitude. She helped pull him off the ground, both of them stumbling slightly as he got to his feet.

"Yeah, I'm alright. You?"

"I'm fine, you softened the fall. I mean, I landed on you so I wasn't hu- I'm fine," Katara babbled, waving her hands in front of her as she talked. Zuko raised his eyebrows at the girl in front of him. Before he could say anything further, a voice interrupted them.

"Hey, you two! We're going inside for hot chocolate!" Aang called, waving to the pair as a disgruntled Sokka stomped back to the house where Toph was standing in the doorway, smirking.

"Okay!" Katara replied, giving Aang a thumbs up. As the younger boy moved towards the warmth of the house, Katara rolled her eyes. "Did they even see any of that?" Katara asked, to which Zuko shook his head.

"Nah, they were too busy hurling snow at each other to pay attention to anything else."

Katara let out a laugh, folding her arms across her chest and looking back at Zuko before voicing her concern again.

"Are you sure you're alright? You didn't land on a rock or anything? Your head's okay?"

Zuko chuckled, ruffling his hair to get the lingering snow out of it and smiling reassuringly at Katara.

"I promise I'm fine. But I'm going to go change, I wouldn't want to catch a cold," he said, gesturing to his soaked back. Katara nodded.

"Of course, go get warm!" As Zuko moved past her, Katara's hand shot out to touch his arm.

"Hey, Zuko?" she said, spinning to face him, plait whipping across her shoulder. He looked back at her, eyebrows raised in curiousity. "I realised I never said thank you. For, you know. Not letting me land on my face. So thanks," she said.

"It's okay. I couldn't just let you fall, could I?" Zuko grinned, before turning to follow Sokka and Aang into the house. Katara let out breath as her eyes followed Zuko's retreating figure.

"It's a bit late for that," Katara said quietly, her whisper lost in the snowfall. "I think I fell before you had any chance of catching me."


End file.
